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Astoria Cove Site on the Market

April 03, 2017

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According to Crains New York, a partnership headed by Alma has put Astoria Cove, an extensive development project on the East River, up for sale. New York City allowed zoning that would permit the construction of up to 1.7 million square feet of housing on the site, in return for which Alma Realty committed to reached a reserving 25% of that square footage for affordable housing.(The city is subsidizing an additional 2% increase in affordable housing bringing the total to 27% for this project).

In November 2014, District 22’s Council Member Costa Constantinides told the City Council that ”Astoria Cove, when built, will be a transformative moment in Astoria. It’ll be fully integrated, innovative, contextual and inclusive of our community. The appearance of Astoria Cove on the market reflects a general optimism that a replacement for 421-a, the New York City program that gave tax abatement’s to developers who included affordable housing in their projects, will soon be signed in Albany. According to Crain’s, “without the break, interest in development sites has fallen sharply. Developers say rental projects are not financially viable without the tax benefit, given the high costs of land and construction.”